COWRA COMMENTS A quarterly newsletter of the Cowra Woodland Birds Program

ISSUE Forty-one – March 2020 SUMMER SURVEYS (8-9 February) CANCELLED The Cowra Woodland Birds Program is a series of projects focussing on woodland birds in the Ramblings from the Chair region with local and visiting birdwatchers carrying out seasonal surveys in the area. John Rankin Survey dates for 2020 Rain and cooler weather have transformed the Cowra landscape. The 18/19 April 41 degree days and the threat of bushfires that forced us to cancel the 11/12 July summer surveys are but a memory. The countryside is a picture in green 10/11 October however it would be premature to call an end to the drought. Cowra Contact Malcolm Fyfe on (02) 4471 8757 or avoided any major bushfires. A blanket of smoke reminded us of how [email protected] others were suffering. Friday evening – 17th April Our April survey is shaping up to be successful and enjoyable. The mild Join other members of the CWBP Group at weather and sunny days that we are currently experiencing make for the Cowra Hotel (near the River Bridge) from excellent surveying conditions. The cloud on the horizon is Covid-19. about 5.45pm for dinner and drinks – typical We will keep you up to date if we need to make any changes to the April pub bistro menu. program. 8pm - Cowra Holiday Park Meeting . The analysis of our database is all but complete. A number of people Saturday evening at Pridham Centre are currently proofreading it and Julian Reid will put the finishing BYO everything barbeque . Contact: John Rankin on 0427 234 331 touches to the work over the next few days. Julian is planning the or [email protected] launch of the work at our July meeting. You will find some of the CWBP committee findings of the report in the next edition of Cowra Comments. John Rankin - Chair Looking forward to catching up in April. If Covid-19 intervenes and we Neale Coutanche Vice-chair cancel the survey make sure you pencil in our July and October Dan Florance Nick Nichols meetings. Sue Proust Madeleine Rankin Repair work to Hellyers Road into Sally McInerney's 'Jim's Block' - Julian Reid Before and After Maret Vesk – Newsletter editor ([email protected] ) Peter West

BirdLife Southern NSW [email protected] Postal Address: CWBP, BirdLife Discovery Centre, Newington Armory, 1 Jamieson St Olympic Park 2127.

FOR YOUR DIARY March 20-22 - KEY BIODIVERSITY AREA (KBA) 17 th Bird Survey Weekend around Grenfell If you would like to join us or would like more information, please contact Elisabeth Karplus on [email protected]. au or Allan Richards on [email protected] Obviously not getting rid of the Multi-hazard Early Warning System (green chair) just yet! Neale Coutanche

BUSH FIRES SOUTH COAST Geoff Ball

These are photos from two survey sites I have counted the past four years and which were burnt on New Year’s eve. The sites are on the Bendalong - Manyana walkway on the NSW south coast, the figures are for 2 ha 20 minute counts entered into Birdata. The “path” site is in banksia scrub along the pathway and the “bush” site is in coastal eucalypt woodland (see below). The path site was on the fringe of the fire and the bush site was badly burnt per the photo.

The area had been very dry the last two years but when I put it all together I was surprised to see the decrease in numbers over that time, before the fire.

There are not many birds around in the bush but most of the usual species seem to be turning up all be it in small numbers. After a slow start there now seem to be more birds than usual in the township, which was not burnt.

Bushfires on the Mid-north Coast - Hastings Birdwatchers Sue Proust

Hastings Birdwatchers watched in dismay last November, as the fires started burning in the mountains to the west of us. These mountains contain some national parks and habitats that are very precious and beautiful. They contain stands of moss-covered antarctic beech forest, cool temperate and sub-tropical rainforests and large stands of old growth wet forest. We had been surveying here for the Critically Endangered Rufous Scrub-bird for 5-6 years. And others had before us. There are other special forest birds – Olive Whistler, Paradise Riflebird, Superb Lyrebird, Spotted Quail-Thrush, Bassian and Russet-tailed Thrushes and lots of others. The fires continued burning until it looked as if the whole of the mountain national parks to the west had been burnt- Cotton-Bimbang, Werrikimbe, Willi Willi, Mummel Gulf National Parks and more north and south. This was truly devastating, as some of these forests are very old and haven’t been burnt for a very long time. The Oxley Highway was closed for quite some time and even when it opened, it was only one lane. When it was properly opened, three of us from the club decided to go and have a look. .

Mt. Seaview

We were pleasantly surprised at first by the lack of apparent damage near Mt Seaview. This is the last cleared farming land before you start the real ascent over the mountains. There was some fire damage on the south side of the road near Mt. Seaview, but looking over towards Mt. Seaview resort, it looked untouched. And as we went up the road, we were relieved to see that the fire damage was patchy, leaving many refuges for fauna. Some of the fires had been relatively cool, leaving the canopy intact. As we drove higher and could see north towards Werrikimbe NP, most of the canopy appeared to be intact and green. Here and there, there was evidence of hot fires on the ridges and the canopy had been burnt. Along the highway, it looked as if they had back burned and trees had been cut down and/or pushed over. But the burnt area was narrow. At many sites, the fire had burnt only the understory. At others, there was quite a lot burnt, large trees down. Further up, the fire or back burn had burnt 20m of one of the Rufous Scrub-bird territories, but one was still calling. Here the fire had burnt one side of the Rainforest (not into the canopy), but spared the other. We looked at one of the Antarctic beech sites and only the edge had been singed, not the beech trees, thankfully. As we got higher, however the fire had obviously been more severe, into the canopy. However, there were signs of recovery here.

. Cooler Burn Rufous Scrub-bird Site

At the top of the mountain, there is a road to the north along which we can find birds not often found on the coast. White-eared Honeyeater, Scarlet Robin, Buff-rumped Thornbill, Rufous Songlark are some of them. We found the fire damage became more obvious as we drove north. The rain had made everything green, but the trees and understorey had been badly burnt. The woodland where we often saw the robin and thornbills obviously had a very hot fire go through. The canopy had been burnt, though there was some epicormic growth. On the adjoining hillside it was worse. Quite a lot of blackened trees, not lots of regrowth and bare soil/rock. It looked as if the fires had been closely followed by torrential rain, carrying away the top soil and seed bank. Near here is a lovely little stream, Warne’s River. A favourite lunch stop and one year, a breeding site for a pair of Satin Flycatchers. None were there when we stopped. The casuarinas had been singed but were still alive. Everything else had been burnt, but there was regrowth and groundcover, not all of it weedy! We tried our luck for scarlet robins and thornbills up the hill and just after I confidently predicted we would not get any, we found both!

Regenerating Eucalypt Forest Kangaroo Flat Road The whole time we were birding Peter was putting surveys on birddata. As a club we hope to do many more surveys in the burnt areas over the coming years. Some of the national parks are still closed, but once it is OK, we will resume our Rufous Scrub-bird surveys. This will include Werrikimbe NP which is a Key Biodiversity Area, proclaimed as such for the Rufous Scrub-bird and other species. Members of our club have already started surveys in the coastal parks that were burnt here, especially Lake Innes NR. This was the park south of Port Macquarie that contained a large and important koala population. There will be many other surveys undertaken by our club as the bush recovers.

Warne’s River Greetings to all our Cowra birders ,

Bruce and I are really enjoying our time as caretakers at the Eyre Bird Observatory. The weather began with some very hot days, but starting to get some cooler crisp mornings on the Great Australian Bight. Bruce is now the expert weatherman sending weather details to the Bureau twice a day. We love the Major Mitchells and their entertaining antics in the evening and many other WA inland birds that we are slowly learning to identify.

Come and visit -we are here until the end of April!

Margo and Bruce

Mt Canobolas – more news from Rosemary Stapleton

Like many places Mt Canobolas has been affected by the drought however the change since the recent 2-3 inches of rain is remarkable. In places shrub seedlings that grew since the fire died as did some of the Eucalyptus canobolensis regrowth and even mature trees. While these plants won’t recover plants are now shooting, seeds germinating, and the mossy areas look refreshed. On the first autumn orchid search on the 8 th March we found that the Dainty Greenhood, Diplodium reflexum , had flowered well just 5 days after the rain. Fungi are popping up, there are many more insects around and the occasional skink is seen. Let’s hope there is more rain and we can continue to get into the bush at this uncertain and unprecedented time.

December and January saw the publication of two significant articles relating to Mt Canobolas. Details of the articles are below. You might also have heard recent publicity by National Parks about the recovery of Mt Canobolas and the monitoring work of volunteers.

Biodiversity and Endemism within the Mount Canobolas Volcanic Complex. Richard W. Medd and Colin C. Bower. Published in the latest Proceedings of the Linnean Society of NSW (Vol. 141, pp S46- S84). Report R Stapleton.

This article updates the information that Dick, and Col had compiled in the AOBV (Area of Outstanding Biodiversity Value) Submission and that Dick presented at the Linnean Society’s Volcanoes of NW NSW Symposium in September 2018.

The growing number of species recorded for the SCA (now 986 species) are listed in the article. It notes that there are 10 endemic species, 14 threatened species and 200 that are regionally significant. Comparisons are made of the SCA’s vascular plant diversity with that found in 22 conservation reserves in the near Central West of NSW. This shows that the mountain has more taxa than all but Abercrombie River Reserve, which is over ten times the size of the SCA. It also shows that the richness of flora in the SCA is over 12-fold that of similar areas in Kosciuszko National Park. Dick and Col also suggest possible reasons behind the high level of endemism within the SCA. The article can be downloaded . If you haven’t already read it, it is a must read as it confirms the significance of Mt Canobolas and the need for it to be nurtured and protected.

Two New Threatened Orchid Species from Mt Canobolas Described. The second article is by orchid authority David Jones who describes and names 2 new endemic orchid species from Mt Canobolas SCA.

They are Paraprasophyllum canobolense (the Canobolas Leek Orchid) and Caladenia boweri (the Pink Spider Orchid). The article, published in The Australian Orchid Review, gives notes on their distribution, ecology, distinguishing features, etymology and conservation status. This formal description grants them scientific recognition.

These species have been known since 1988 when Col recognised their distinctiveness and drew David Jones’s attention to them. Col sent specimens to the Australian National Botanic Gardens and these have become the type specimens. It’s taken so many years to complete the formal describing and naming of them as there are few experts and many thousands of species to name.

The Canobolas Leek Orchid flowers freely after fire but is rarely seen in overgrown habitat. It had not been seen for over 20 years until the spring flowering following the wildfire in February 2018. Its known population is less than 100 plants spread over about 50 hectares on the mountain. The article states that the name of this species is ‘a fter Mt Canobolas, the type location and only place where this species is known to occur .’ Canobolas Leek Orchid left, and Pink Spider Orchid, right. Photos Col Bower.

Caladenia boweri is truly unique as only 1 plant has ever been found - by Col on 28 October 1988. This species, which is distinctive and readily recognisable, has not been seen since even with regular searches at the location. David Jones states that ‘despite it’s obvious rarity it is described as new because of its distinctive morphology. ’ The article says the origin of the name boweri is ‘after Colin Charles Bower, entomologist, biologist, eminent authority on the pollination of Australian orchids and discoverer of this species.’

David Jones considers both species should be listed as threatened; the Canobolas Leek Orchid as Endangered and the Pink Spider Orchid as Critically Endangered. Col is currently working on applications for both listings.